Moving on from Parasound A21 (maybe?)

Prof, your description of the A21 Not delivering some of the high detail was what  I heard for myself with certain tracks of music that had more detail in my car system. I’m not sure why Parasound  tuned the a 21 this way but after I noticed that I couldn’t not hear it. 

The Adcom 555SE  has this detail that I was missing. I really can’t say whether it would be as refined as some of these high end amps  being discussed, but I’m confident in saying it’s superior to Emotiva’s XPA amps, because I had an XPA-3 at one point as well.  I

I  don’t think Adcom  uses top shelf parts like some of these high end amps but for 1300  i’m pretty happy. Adcom has higher end amps like the 575 and 585 that may come Closer to the same parts quality but then they cost 2500 to 3000.  

I want to love the A21, I really do. It does a lot so well and then it does something stupid like burying detail that's been experienced with another amp. It's good to know somebody else knows what I'm talking about. I'd hate to think I'm going deaf along with being slightly crazy.
I've decided to wait a week or two before settling on exactly what to purchase. I'm getting some quality advice from personal experience about amps that people are sold on. I need time to do homework on everything that's been suggested (some stuff I've never heard of). This will probably be the last piece of equipment I ever buy and I want be confident in my decision.
If anybody else wants to chime in, I'd welcome insight on a few more amps. Your ears and experience with quality (or lack of) mean more than a pro review.

professosvsu,

Perhaps you can turn off the stereo and listen to a jam box while you are pondering which direction that you need to take to achieve amplifier nirvana. The truth is, I am on a similar pilgrimage. I am fortunate, or not, to have a sidekick with wooden ears who couldn't care less about sound quality.  For her, music isn't something she appreciates. So, spending money on a sound system is carefully scrutinized before committing to buy that next best component.

Currently I am using two A23's to bi-amp a pair of older JBL speakers. This a great match up of power requirement and clean power output.  Yes, I raised an eyebrow from  the boss when I spent over $200.00 dollars for supplies to build two pairs of Helix cables that build instructions were published in another tread. By the way, the cables are a major improvement over the bulk Monster cable that I was using.

I might be opening a can of worms and a subject for another thread.  You stated above, " This will probably be the last piece of equipment I ever buy and I want be confident in my decision ".  Are you sure that the amplifier is really the piece of the puzzle that is missing? In my mind, a superior pre-amp is the Holy Grail of components that motivates my quest.

As I was told when my Vector Research bit the dust, it is important to have good amplification but the pre-amplifier is a more significant factor if one has balanced power need and output.  I use a Wyred4Sound DAC to feed files from my PC into a Parasound P3. The P3 is the component I question in my system. Before I spend over $5000.00 for a pre-amp that "MIGHT" take my listening experience to the land of bliss I will try upgrade power cords. I can assemble three power cords using the Helix instructions with an added tweak for under $400.00.  They can be used with new equipment if my listening experience still falls short.

Back to the jam box.  Take your time and evaluate the shortcomings of the boom box compared to your stereo system. After careful contemplating and the Spring thaw begins you may realize that your system sounds great and and you were just delirious from cabin fever. :D

I owned the Parasound A21 and I submit it's okay for the money. My problem was to my ears it was on the dark side of neutral and too many details were masked. The soundstage was relatively flat and limited front to back placement. I think better amps are more open and provide details that makes the music come alive.

Belles .